Angel Olsen (above, performing “Give It Up” live on Conan) is a two-faced musician … in the best way possible. Her music is both emotionally plainspoken and honest, something to listen to and contemplate, and her music is gritty and rocking and groovy, something to move your body to. Appropriately, she now has two relatively new records out, 2016’s proper studio album, the highly acclaimed My Woman(stream it below), and the recently released Phases(stream it below), an assembly of B-sides and demos. While the latter is a stripped-down living-room affair often featuring little more than Olsen’s voice and the former a fully realized, full-band vision, they both manage to show off her two sides. Luckily Olsen’s touring band is adept at both featuring her depth, allowing the singer-songwriter space when needed and then digging in to get the crowd moving. Luckier still, she will be showcasing her two faces in two different boroughs in two different rooms in this city, with two nights—Wednesday and Thursday (which is already sold out)—at Town Hall and then Friday night at Brooklyn Steel (which is also already sold out). While each venue might naturally better lend itself to one side of Olsen’s talents or the other, she’s sure to show off all she’s got each night. San Francisco quartet Heron Oblivion open each night. —A. Stein | @Neddyo

Angel Olsen – Warsaw – September 18, 2016

(Photo: Andie Diemer)

Angel Olsen wields the superpower of having one of the most dynamic voices in music. Not only that, but her songwriting puts it all to damn good use. Her latest release, the much-acclaimed My Woman, further pushes her sound into every direction. Sometimes it’s poppier, sometimes more mellow, louder and/or softer. Call it her slow takeover of the entire musical canon. Olsen and Co. came to Brooklyn’s the Warsaw on Sunday night, her second of two local weekend shows. Olsen’s backing band, sporting adorable matching gray suits with bolo ties, featured some welcome new additions. Mount Moriah’s Heather McEntire may be one of the few voices out there with the chops to sing backing vocals for Olsen. Their Southern-inspired outfits seemed fitting for the barn-stomping, rockabilly-tinged set openers, “Never Be Mine” and “Hi-Five.” All three guitarists came out swinging as the slow-burning “Sister” worked toward its fiery crescendo.

At the opposite end of things, “Acrobat,” usually already a sparse song, was stripped bare even of its rhythm, making a brooding number sound all the more haunted. With its lurching momentum, the shape-shifting melody was left to wax and wane as Olsen saw fit, belting through lines like “I am alive” before lingering on “I thought I had died.” It remains one of her best songs, made all the better by her continual experimentation with its arrangement. She makes it all look easy to boot. “Windows” showcased vocals reminiscent of Stevie Nicks’ raspy warmth. The following song, “Not Gonna Kill You,” brought out the fever-pitch psychedelic sharpness that could be mistaken for Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick. The encore kicked off with the bright and moody “Intern.” And for all the range displayed within the main set, the song still felt like a counterpoint, replacing drums and guitars for keyboards and synths. Just when you thought she was done conquering the musical landscape, there was still more stones left unturned. You can call this rock and roll. —Dan Rickershauser | @D4nRicks